Diabetics who skip breakfast may be provoking hazardous blood sugar spikes by fasting until lunch, according to new research.

The findings, published in Diabetes Care and recently presented at the American Diabetes Association, suggests that ‘fasting’ until noon triggers major blood sugar spikes and impairs the insulin responses of type-2 diabetics throughout the rest of the day.

Led by Professor Daniela Jakubowicz of Tel Aviv University, the international team of researchers found that diabetic people who skipped breakfast had day-long consequences for blood sugar management, when compared to those who did not skip breakfast.​

"Despite the fact that many studies have previously demonstrated the benefits of a high-caloric breakfast for weight loss and to regulate the glucose metabolism, very little was known regarding the effect of skipping breakfast on glycemic spikes after meals throughout the entire day,"​ said Jakubowicz.

"It is quite remarkable that, for type-2 diabetic individuals, the omission of breakfast is associated with a significant increase in all-day blood sugar spikes and of HbA1C, which represents average blood glucose levels over the preceding three months."​